Did you know you can tell a lot about an Italian Surnames origin by it’s ending? Or that generally speaking surnames in Southern regions of Italy end in vowels but as one moves North many surnames will end in consonants? This can possibility be attributed to the fact that Northern Italy borders have changed several times over the centuries and belonged to other European countries so surnames were “grandfathered’ in.
Some examples of such surnames and the regions they can found in are:
Anzil – Fruili-Venezia Giulia
Bionaz – Valle d’Aosta
Conchin – Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Lombardy, Piemonte
De Pellegrin – Fruili-Venezia Giulia
De Sanctis – Abruzzo, Lazio, Lombardy
Orbel – Piemonte
Perin – Veneto, Lombardy
Rigonat – Fruili-Venezia Giulia
Schiff – Fruili-Venezia Giulia
Other surname endings found in Northern regions include:
Suffix
Region
Example
– otti/utti
Fruili, Lombardy
Pascutti
– otti/utti
Emilia Romagna, Lombardy, Trentino
Bortolotti
-aci/ecci/ucci
Tuscany
Ghelarducci
-ai
Lombardy, Tuscany
Mungai
-u, -as and -is
Sardinia
Piccinnu, Marras,
Floris, Melis
**Sources**
1. Italian Surname Database – accessed 6 Jul 2013
2. Gens-Italia – accessed 6 Jul 2013
3. Webpages by Stephen P. Morse , San Francisco – accessed 6 July 2013
4. Wikipedia – accessed 6 Jul 2013
About the author
What a lovely site! I unfortunately inherited an Italian last name that has horrible history. I’ve not seen it here or anywhere. I am the grandaughter of Enrico Bocchini, whose great Uncle was Mussolini’s chief of special Police (I think). He is the hole in my tree. Any idea how I would look for any info on him? The history books show his father and mother and that’s where it ends.
Help, please. Robyn
Thank you! I’m glad you like it. I’d like to ask you some questions so I will be emailing you. Is that ok?